His Constant
by EnchantedtoMeetYou
Summary: Fate plays a role in the lives of Jesse St. James and Rachel Berry. Will it bring them together or pull them apart? St.Berry.
1. The Past

_**A/N This is a 3 part (plus Epilogue) Mini Fic that will eventually loosely crossover with ABC's Lost.**_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Part One<strong>_

_The Past_

**Fate: ****the predetermined, usually **_**inevitable**_** or irresistible, course of events. **

Do we really get a say in the way the events of our lives turn out? Are there just some things that were meant to happen to you that you can't escape no matter what? You may believe that we make our own luck. In many aspects, this is true. But if you take a closer look into the lives of the average person, you'll find that certain things will happen and as though they were meant to be.

Jesse St. James didn't believe in that sort of thing. As far as he was concerned, he was destined to be a Broadway star because he had the talent and drive to get himself there. But he wasn't aware that fate had been playing a role in his life from day one.

How was he to know that his babysitter when he was a toddler was none other than a pregnant Shelby Corcoran who was picking up the extra job to save up to move to New York after she gave birth to the Berry's future daughter? Shelby would teach him very simple children's songs and he'd sing them to her belly every time she came over.

That wasn't even the only "coincidence".

When he was only eight, for instance, he walked into his first dance lesson in Lima, Ohio. It was one of the many summers that he would spend with his aunt and uncle in the quaint town while his parents were off vacationing on some tropical destination their choice. His parents thankfully paid for him to continue his lessons in Lima whenever he was forced to stay.

How was he to know that he was taking more than one steps to fulfill his destiny that day?

_With his aunt and uncle sitting in the corner with the other parents, Jesse walked up to the barre with the rest of the class to warm up. He was of course the only boy in the class, but he didn't really care. When he was a star one day, this would all pay off. Not to mention, he absolutely dared anyone to taunt him for taking dance. They wouldn't know what hit them if they did. _

_He stepped up behind a smaller girl with long dark hair pulled up into a neat bun. She wore a bright pink sparkly tutu that would normally be reserved for real performances instead of actual lessons. She seemed much too young for the age group in the class. Despite being the smallest, she seemed to be the most confident as she held her head high while she stretched. She seemed to sense him watching her and whipped herself around to face him._

"_Hi, I'm Rachel," she introduced herself brightly, placing her small hands on her hips. "Who are you?"_

"_I'm Jesse," he replied, smiling down at the smaller child. _

"_I was placed here with the older kids because Mrs. Pierce says that I've got a natural talent. She's right," she explained, bending down to touch her toes._

"_Oh yeah? Well Mrs. Pierce says I've got a natural talent too and placed me in this level after ten minutes of seeing what I can do," he replied, crossing his arms in front of his chest._

_Rachel shot back up and crossed her arms just as he did. _

"_Yeah? Well I've already taken first prize at three pageants this year with my award winning singing and dancing," she snapped, shoving three fingers in his face. _

_Sensing a competition, Jesse stood tall and towered over the small brunette fiercely. _

"_I've starred in every show Akron's Children's Theatre has put on for the past two years," he gloated proudly. _

"_I played Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz!" she shouted, trying to stand as tall as she possibly could._

"_I played Danny in Grease!"_

_By this point the rest of the class was starting to get sucked into the confrontation going on before their eyes. They began crowding around the two children with intense interest. _

"_Oh yeah? Well… well… I'm going to be on Broadway someday!" the brunette shouted._

"_Me too! And I'll bet I'll get there first!" he shouted back. _

"_Will not!"_

"_Will too!"_

_By this point the two children were within an inch of each other, shooting each other the fiercest of glares. Two men in the corner with the rest of the parents shot up immediately._

"_Not again…" muttered Hiram Berry._

"_Rachel Barbra Berry, stop that right now!" ordered his husband, Leroy. _

_Jesse's aunt and uncle stood up and glanced between the children and Rachel's parents in shock. _

"_We're so sorry. He does this all the time whenever he senses that someone thinks they're better than him," explained his aunt apologetically. _

"_That's exactly what our Rachel does. I can't begin to tell you just how many children she's scared away this way" explained Leroy, turning back to look at the arguing children. "…and oh dear, we should break it up now."_

"_Well there's only one way we can settle this is there?" growled the curly haired little boy._

"_SING AND DANCE OFF!" she exclaimed._

"_BRING IT ON, MUNCHKIN!"_

"_YOU'RE ON PUFF HEAD!"_

"_Stop fighting!" shouted a blonde girl in a kitten leotard hiding behind the dance instructor. _

_Before either of them could even begin, they were pulled apart by Hiram and Jesse's uncle. _

"_Great, now we're going to have to switch her to another dance school, again," groaned Leroy, grabbing Rachel's dance bag and following Hiram and Rachel out of the studio. _

_Jesse pried himself from his uncle's grasp and shook a few stray curls from his face. _

"_Girls…" he growled in frustration as he made his way back to the center of the room to begin his lesson._

_He turned back to watch Rachel's fathers drag a kicking and screaming ("NO, DADDY! NO!") Rachel out of the room, secretly admiring the little girl and he wasn't quite sure why._

Not very many summers later, Jesse was spending yet another holiday at his aunt and uncle's house. He was eleven years old now and took to sneaking out of the house every now and then for long walks around town. On this particular day, he was furious with his aunt for making him get his hair cut because the barber had cut it too short for his liking. His curls were practically gone now because of it.

_He picked up a stick from the neighbor's backyard and began hitting it against the fences he walked by. He was about to cross the street when he heard the sound of a little girl crying a in the yard next to him. Turning back curiously, he leaned against the fence to see the source of the tears. _

"_What's the matter?" he asked, looking over at the little brunette a few years younger than him._

_Rachel was sitting in her pale yellow dress on her backyard swing by herself with her head low. This time her dark hair was much shorter and pulled back in pigtails with pink ribbons. She poked her head up and looked over at the older boy with tear-filled red eyes._

"_Who are you?" she asked, too young to have remembered their encounter the first time._

_He ignored that question, unable to remember the first time they met either, and walked into the yard to sit next to her on the adjacent swing. _

"_What's the matter?" he repeated. _

_Rachel sighed and looked across the street at the neighbor's house._

"_I went over to see if Sanny and Brittany wanted to play and then Sanny called me a Smurf and pushed me to the ground. She said that I wasn't cool enough to join her club because I wasn't pretty enough," she explained as a new wave of tears overcame her. _

_Jesse frowned in the direction of Santana's house before turning back to her sympathetically. He reached over and wiped a few tears from her cheek with one hand. _

"_I think you're pretty," he muttered, wiping another tear from her other cheek. _

"_Really?" she sniffled, poking her head up._

_He smiled and nodded. "Yeah, and if they don't want you in your club, then who needs them," he shrugged, swinging slowly next to her._

_Rachel smiled weakly and nodded. "Someday I'm going to be a star, you know. Then they'll be sorry they were ever mean to me."_

_Ignoring the sense of déjà vu he was feeling, Jesse smiled at the brunette and continued to swing next to her. _

"_Me too," he replied, holding his head up high. _

"_Maybe we can be stars together," she said brightly, smoothing out her yellow dress. _

"_If you're good enough," he teased playfully._

"_I am too good enough!" she pouted, sending him a glare._

"_Oh yeah? Prove it," Jesse replied, bumping his swing into hers playfully._

"_Only if you do," she smiled, grabbing his hand and pulling him to his feet with her. _

_After an intense debate, they both decided to settle with singing a duet of "A Whole New World" from Aladdin. Despite their young age, they could already appreciate each other's natural talent was already highly evident in their acapella performance. When they finished, they sang a few more songs before crashing down to the grass to watch the clouds._

"_You're really good," said Rachel, reaching over to grab Jesse's hand._

"_I know," he replied smugly. "But so are you."_

_They shared a brief smile before Rachel sat up and pulled him up with her._

"_Let's play something. We can play the parts in our favorite movies," she suggested, smiling brightly at the boy._

"_Okay, what movie?" he asked with interest. _

"_Snow white?"_

"_No." _

"_Sleeping Beauty?"_

"_No way," he shook his head._

"_Why not?" she asked, crossing her arms in frustration._

"_Because in both of them I'd have to kiss you for you to wake up," he explained._

"_What's so wrong with that?" she asked, fluttering her eyelashes at him. "The prince always has to kiss the princess!"_

"_I'm not going to kiss you," he said flatly._

_Rachel giggled and covered her mouth. _

"_What?"_

"_You're scared!"_

_Jesse's eyebrows furrowed in frustration at her accusation._

"_Am not!"_

"_Are too!"_

_He shot her a glare and shook his head, refusing to give in._

"_I dare you," she continued, edging herself closer. "You can't refuse a dare."_

_Jesse sighed and leaned in and hovered his lips near hers, closing his eyes. He quickly pecked her lips and pulled away. Both of them quickly looked away so the other wouldn't see just how much they were blushing. _

"_Okay, let's play," he said quickly to change the subject._

"_I want to play Beauty and the Beast, then. You can be Beast," she declared._

"_I'm way too good looking to play The Beast," he frowned._

"_But you get to become the handsome prince at the end," she said in a sing song voice._

"_Okay, you're on."_


	2. The Present

_**Part Two**_

_The Present_

There were many more times throughout the years that followed that Jesse and Rachel casually bumped into each other without even realizing it at the supermarket or at commercial auditions in Columbus. One would get on the elevator while the other would step off. Rachel would drop her script and Jesse would pick it up for her without getting a look at her face. It happened so many times that was as if fate was constantly throwing them into each other's path for a purpose.

They of course never fully got acquainted until they dated in high school and their own selfish ways got in the way of allowing their love to survive. For a couple that fate seemed to have deemed as destined for each other, they sure had a way of screwing it up so quickly. Even by the time Jesse had come to his senses and realized that what he had done to her was wrong, Rachel still didn't take him back and instead chose someone whom she didn't belong with at all.

By the time Rachel had come to her senses, it was too late…

_She was sitting in her purple gown at the edge of the sidewalk by her high school parking lot on the night of senior prom with tears rolling down her cheeks. Trying not to mess up her makeup, she reached into her purse for her compact mirror and a tissue to dab her eyes, but couldn't find one. In the reflection of her mirror, she saw someone behind her holding out a handkerchief for her to grab. Mumbling a word of thanks, she grabbed it and dabbed her eyes. _

_That was when she noticed the St. James family crest emblem on the handkerchief. Whipping her head around, she smiled at the sight of Jesse St. James. Without a word of greeting, she stood up and pulled him into a tight hug, burying her face into the crook of his neck for comfort. _

"_Hey, Rachel," he murmured, wrapping his arms around her waist. _

"_I never thought you'd ever come back to Lima after… what happened," she muttered against his neck. _

"_I'm here tying up a few loose ends before I leave again. I thought I'd swing by and see you graduate while I was at it," he explained. _

"_But why are you here now?" she asked, poking her face up to look at him._

"_I just had the weird urge to go for a walk. I can't explain it… I just felt like I had to" he muttered, looking down thoughtfully. "But now that I found you, I'm glad I did. What did Hudson do now?"_

_She sighed and pulled away slightly. _

"_We knew this was going to happen all year. But I never imagined it would turn out this way…" she muttered, wiping more tears away. _

"_Tell me," he murmured, reaching up to wipe her eyes for her. _

"_I wanted to explain to him that I didn't want him to come to New York with me because I didn't see myself making it on Broadway with him by my side. I wanted someone else who I so stupidly let go… someone who I was supposed to be with...," she explained, looking up at him nervously._

"_Oh yeah?" he asked, tilting his head slightly._

"_I saw him staring at Quinn the whole time though and I knew he still had feelings for her. I didn't even get through explaining the whole thing when he muttered something about us both having to go our own way and seize the day and he just left me to go try and win Quinn back," she explained. _

"_Oh… so why were you crying, then? You did get what you wanted…"_

_She shrugged and leaned back into his arms. _

"_I wanted it to end on my terms for once. Not to mention I didn't have the guy I let go…" she muttered, her voice trailing off._

"_You don't?" he asked, raising an eyebrow._

"_Well… I do now," she said, reaching up to stroke his cheek as a smile crept upon her face. _

_Jesse pressed his finger to her lips to get her to stop talking before she could say what he knew was coming. They would have that conversation later on. As for right now, he wanted to do whatever he could to save her senior prom for her. So he grabbed her hand and pulled her down to the center of the parking lot, wrapping his arms around her for a slow dance. _

_As they danced in the moonlight to the faint sound of a tune playing inside the gym, he couldn't help but remember the last time the two of them stood in this very spot together. It was only right that he said goodbye here. It was a little poetic, even. This time he'll do it the right way without involving any eggs in the picture. _

_He pressed his chin to the top of her head and sighed, not looking forward to what was to come. Rachel was oblivious to this and simply smiled against his chest as they danced in slow circles. _

"_I heard you were offered a part in a show in New York," she murmured, swaying along with him._

_He nodded curtly but didn't offer any words as a response._

"_I'm glad you're in town now," she murmured, looking up at him in the midst of their dance. "It's like fate decided to give us a second chance. Now we can go to New York together and rekindle our romance as we become stars who will inevitably take over Broadway!"_

_Jesse's face just about turned to stone at her words. Rachel failed to notice this because she had closed her eyes and leaned in for a kiss. He kissed her back briefly and pulled away, looking down._

"_I wish you would have reached this conclusion sooner," he sighed, shaking his head._

"…_Why?" she asked tentatively. _

"_Because I'm not going to New York, Rachel. I'm heading to London," he confessed._

"_What?"_

"_I did get a part on Broadway. But I also got offered a part in a show on the West End and I'm taking it. I'm leaving in a few days. When I said I had come back to tie a few loose ends… it was to say goodbye," he explained, looking down at her sadly. _

_Rachel opened her mouth to speak but she was in complete shock._

"_No…you can't go. It wasn't supposed to go this way. We were supposed to—"_

"_Things turned out this way because you picked him, remember?" he reminded her, unable to contain the bitterness that still remained. "So, I've picked the show in London."_

_Rachel looked down immediately at his words. _

"_Not choosing you… it's my one great regret," she confessed, her eyes welling up with tears. "Please, Jesse. Can't you take the show in New York?"_

_Jesse wanted so desperately to say yes. If he took the show, he'd have everything he ever wanted: Broadway and Rachel. But he couldn't help but feel the need to be cautious with Rachel because of what happened before. Supposing he picked the New York show for her and she changed her mind to go back to chasing Finn? He didn't know if he could handle that kind of let down. As far as he was concerned, it was for the best that they go their separate ways for now. Perhaps after a few years of growing up, they'd be ready to try again. _

"_I can't."_

"_You can't or you won't?" she asked, pulling away and crossing her arms in front of her chest._

"_Does it matter?" he sighed._

"_You're scared. You're picking the job across the ocean because I'm going to be in New York. Aren't you?" she accused. "You're running away!"_

"_Not everything has to do with you, Rachel," he lied, crossing his arms in front of his chest like she did. "The show in London is much bigger than the Off-Broadway show I was offered in New York. I'm simply making the better career choice to become a star."_

"_And what ever happened to me being more important than fame?" she asked, placing her hands at her hips. _

_Jesse looked down and closed his eyes as he forced another lie out of his mouth._

"_Not anymore."_

_Rachel turned away so he wouldn't see the tears spilling down her cheeks._

"_Rach…"_

"_Just go," she insisted, walking back to the gym._

_Halfway there, she turned around to take one last look at him._

"_I never want to see you again, Jesse St. James!"_

_Jesse nodded, feeling his heart tear completely as he walked away for the McKinley High parking lot for the last time._

Fear of getting hurt again had made it incredibly hard for Jesse to commit. He would never admit that he was afraid because Jesse St. James didn't do fear. He would have rather made up a stupid lie than face it. It would be just another thing to add to the list of his regrets.

On more occasions than one he tried to pick up the phone and call her, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. His opening night was drawing closer and closer and there was only one person he wanted there to support him. But that one person hated him right now. When he finally did pluck up the strength to try (after a few shots of liquid courage), he found out that she had changed her phone number.

He took it as a sign that it just wasn't meant to be.

He had to move on…

Little did he know that she actually had made it to his opening night. He wasn't the only one who lied in the parking lot that night.


	3. The Future?

_**A/N: This is the part where it becomes Glee/Lost. As a reminder, the time frame of these events is post all of the events on Lost. It is slightly AU in the Lost realm to help the dates line up so don't bite my head off.**_

_**Part Three**_

_The Future…Past….Future?_

Ten years had passed and Jesse's career was booming. Rachel's career had skyrocketed after a well known Broadway director decided to take a chance on her for a new musical that became a hit. After landing her big break, she never had much trouble landing a part to boost her resume. Little did she know that Jesse St. James had stopped by to support her for every show she did.

After completing a successful run in London, he moved back to the US to star in a few Broadway shows before eventually moving on to movies. He was just cast in a film adaptation of the Broadway musical Wicked. He wasn't aware that Rachel Berry had just been cast opposite him in the role of Elphaba. When his agent had finally made him aware of the news, he was vacationing in Australia with his best friends. He was overjoyed at the possibility of getting to work with Rachel because he felt as though fate was giving them another chance. Perhaps they were an inevitability. Rachel was secretly feeling the exact same way.

Things never always plan out the way we want them to, sadly.

On the way back to Los Angeles on the night of December 17, 2023, Jesse's plane was caught in the middle of a severe lightning storm that the pilot couldn't see coming. It was as though the plane had flown into some strange electromagnetic pocket. Jesse wasn't aware of what was going on very much because as the plane was going down, all he could see was his life flashing before his eyes at random places out of order.

The last thing he saw before he blacked out was the sight of a familiar little girl with dark hair at a dance class…

He woke up the next day to the sound of crashing waves hitting the shore nearby. Maybe he had hit his head, maybe he was going crazy, but he could swear that he could hear Rachel's voice singing a very familiar tune somewhere nearby. The sound gave him the energy to push himself up and follow it.

Not knowing where he was going, he walked past the bodies of the other passengers and ignored his bleeding leg. He was fully aware that Rachel wasn't on the flight with him, but he couldn't deny the sound of her voice. If there was any chance that she was here, any chance at all, then maybe things would be okay.

But the sound of her voice wasn't coming from anywhere on the island itself. He would find this out when he blacked out in the middle of the jungle and woke up in back home in London ten years before.

He had fallen asleep at his laptop watching a playlist of Rachel's youtube videos. Her voice echoed through his apartment as she sang her original song Get It Right from her bedroom a couple of years ago. He felt an incredibly odd sense of déjà vu and didn't know why. Just when he was about to shut his laptop, he found himself sucked back to the island within the blink of an eye.

"Are you alright, Brotha?" asked a man in a Scottish accent and long messy hair hovering over him.

Jesse groaned and clapped his hand to his head to contain the pounding it was doing right now. He sat up and looked around, completely confused as to where he was.

"What the hell is going on here? I was just back at home a few seconds ago and...and...dammit my head," he groaned, clutching his head. "This isn't normal..."

"What's your name?" asked the man as he quickly looked over Jesse's body for any sign of injuries.

"Jesse St. James," he muttered, looking around in confusion.

How was he here? How could he have just travelled to another place within the blink of an eye? He couldn't recall anything that happened over the last ten years. As far as he was concerned the reality back in London was the present and this was some sort of nightmare.

"Ay, well Jesse, I'm Desmond," he greeted, extending his hand out for him to shake.

Jesse reached out and grabbed it with the hand that wasn't holding onto his head.

"I suppose you were part of the plane crash?" he asked, sitting down next to him and handing him a bottle of water.

Jesse honestly didn't know what to say. He couldn't remember a crash. It felt like this all was a dream. He wanted to just wake up back in his apartment like he had done before. As if answering his thoughts, he heard the sound of Rachel's voice again and he found himself right back in his apartment once more as though he had never left.

"What the fuck is going on here?" he groaned to himself.

He pushed himself up off the floor and walked over to the window. He was definitely in London and judging by the date on the calendar, it was September 12, 2013. Tomorrow was his opening night for his show.

Figuring that this insanity must be some sort of pre-show nerves in combination to something he must have eaten, he walked over to his kitchen to grab some aspirin. Aspirin in hand, he reached for the refrigerator handle and saw a picture of him and Rachel from two years ago held to the door with a gold star magnet.

"Rachel…" he muttered to himself.

He reached out his hand to grab the picture, but he was suddenly right back on the island reaching his hand out at emptiness.

"Whose Rachel?" asked Desmond.

He was face to face with Desmond again. He was looking down at him with a slight suspicion in his eye. But by this point, Jesse didn't care because he was too busy freaking out. His head was killing him and he couldn't tell what was going on. As far as he was concerned, it was 2013 and he was in the middle of some crazy dream. He just wanted to get back.

"What?"

"Rachel. You said 'Rachel'," he explained.

Jesse sighed and ran his hand through his hair.

"Rachel is… it's complicated…" he replied.

"She your girl?" he asked curiously.

He looked down and shook his head. "Not anymore…"

Desmond looked as though he was working something out in his mind as he kept his eyes on Jesse.

"This needs to stop," Jesse groaned, feeling his head pound even more.

"What year is it, Brotha?" asked Desmond suspiciously.

Jesse shot him a confused look. "It's 2013," he muttered, trying to push himself up from the ground.

This had just about convinced Desmond of whatever suspicion he was working through in his head. But Jesse didn't really care. He just had to fix whatever was going on so he could make it back to his normal time and open his show without passing out and winding up here midway.

"I think I know your problem…" Desmond muttered, handing him the water bottle again and insisting that he drink.

"Oh yeah? You know why I keep winding up here where I don't belong?" he asked, his voice agitated.

"Ay."

Jesse took a few gulps of water and closed his eyes, hoping the water would help his head stop pounding. "Explain away…" he muttered, waving his hand to Desmond to speak.

Desmond took a few seconds to form his words. He seemed to be trying his hardest to recall something specific. Jesse waited as patiently as he could, using this time to drink more water and calm down.

"Okay, we need to get you to down to the other island," said Desmond quickly, grabbing Jesse and heaving him up to his feet.

"What the—"

"I'll explain on the way. We can't waste any time," he said urgently, trying to lead him down further into the jungle.

Jesse allowed himself to be pulled up and listened intently for Desmond's explanation. He didn't know they guy, but he had no choice but to trust him if he wanted to get back.

"Jesse….It is Jesse, right?"

Jesse nodded and followed him down the path.

"Jesse, it's not 2013. It should be about 2023," he explained.

"You're insane," he replied, shaking his head and figuring this man must have gone crazy waiting for rescue to come for however long he's been stranded here.

"Fine. Fine. Tell me. It's 2013. Where are you supposed to be? When you're not here, where do you go?" he asked, grabbing his shoulders urgently.

"My apartment in London," he replied simply.

Desmond nodded and continued down the path through the trees and tall grass.

"You need to find your anchor—"

"What—"  
>"Stop talking and listen to me, Brotha!" Desmond snapped urgently.<p>

"This is gonna sound crazy but your mind is going back and forth through time. If you don't stop it soon, bad things will happen!" he exclaimed.

Fear flooded Jesse for the first time in as long as he could remember. He nodded silently and listened intently, not having any other choice.

"What'll happen if I don't stop it?" he asked, feeling his throat begin to close with fear.

Desmond looked down and shook his head.

"You die, Jesse," he replied, looking back up at him.

Jesse wanted nothing more than to believe that this man was insane. But how could he explain that he kept jumping back and forth between home and here? He had no choice. It wasn't that Jesse feared death. Death was inevitable for everyone. There was something much more important that shook him to the core. It was that he couldn't let himself die before he got to make things right with Rachel. She had to know that he still loved her more than anything. That was really all he cared about right now.

"Okay, what do I do?" he asked, putting all his faith into this stranger.

"You need to find your constant," Desmond explained.

"Constant?"

"It's like your anchor. Something or someone in your life that exists in both places. Whatever it is has to exist in 2013 and now. But it can't just be any sort of thing. No. It has to be something special that you deeply care about," he continued, looking totally pained by his own words as he seemed to recall something.

Jesse didn't even have to think about what his constant was for a second.

"Rachel," he said simply.

"Ay. This Rachel. Do you love her?" he asked, continuing to lead the way.

"More than anything," he replied without hesitation.

"Well you have to contact her. You need to make contact with that constant and then everything will be alright again," he assured him.

"But how? We're on an island, aren't we?" he asked, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion.

"You let me worry about that. Do you have her phone number?" he asked, looking back at him.

Jesse opened his mouth to reply, but he had once again gone back to his apartment in 2013 in a split second.

"Shit," he muttered under his breath.

Remembering what Desmond told him he had to do, he reached for his phone on the computer desk and scrolled through his contacts to find Rachel's phone number. He grabbed a pen and began writing it on his hand when he remembered that she had changed her phone number. He groaned and tossed his pen across the room.

Running out of options, he scrolled through his contacts and called someone who would know. It rang three times before a familiar voice picked up.

"Kurt?" he asked frantically, hoping he could stay in this place long enough to get through the conversation.

"Who the—Jesse? Jesse St. James?" he asked in total disbelief.

"Yeah, it's me."

"What do you want? Wait. Don't even answer that. This has to do with her, doesn't it?" he asked knowingly.

"Yeah…"

"You missed your chance with her, Jesse. Leave her alone," her friend demanded.

"Kurt, this is important. I need Rachel's phone number. I swear that my intentions are honest. Just give me her number," he just about begged.

Kurt took a moment to respond as he weighed out what he should do.

"You sound shaken. Is everything alright?" he asked, obviously stalling.

"Kurt!"

"Fine. I won't give you her number but I'll tell you this. We're in London right now," he said quickly.

"Great, you're here. How does that help me?" Jesse asked impatiently.

"Listen to what I'm saying. WE'RE in London. She insisted that we come see your show tomorrow. Now if you can calm down and shut up, I'll tell you where we're staying," he said, the annoyance in his voice evident.

Jesse jumped to pick up the pen he had previously thrown, ignoring Kurt's muttering "The things I do for you two idiots…" as he did.

He had jotted down the directions as quickly as possible and thanked him. Just when he was about to go grab his jacket to head out the door, he was right back in the jungle with Desmond.

"Welcome back," said Desmond, watching Jesse from his spot leaning against a tree. "Let's get moving again, yeah?"

Jesse nodded and followed Desmond in silence for another half hour, hoping that he could just go right back to his apartment already so he could go find Rachel. Desmond led him to the shore of another beach and pulled a canoe over to them, motioning for Jesse to climb in.

"Is there a problem? You've been pretty quiet since you came back," Desmond muttered, paddling the canoe in the direction of Hydra Island.

"No. It's fine," he lied. "Listen, Desmond. How is it that you know all about this?"

Desmond looked off out at the sea and sighed.

"I've been in your shoes before. I've screwed up and lost the one thing that ever mattered," he explained, his tone bittersweet.

"What was her name?" asked Jesse.

"Penny…" he muttered, looking down. "But I managed to reach her when I needed it and everything was alright again."

"So why are you still here?" Jesse asked curiously.

Desmond ran his hand through his hair and shook his head.

"It's complicated. I left and married her. Had a son…Charlie," he explained as he continued to row the canoe. "But then I came back because I had more work to do here. It won't be long before I leave again, though. I've been prepping a boat."

"Can I come with you?" Jesse asked instantly.

Desmond smiled and nodded.

"Ay."

Jesse reached to shake his hand in agreement, but he was now suddenly back in his apartment in London. Sighing, he grabbed his jacket and ran downstairs to his car parked outside. He hoped that he didn't flash back to the island in the midst of his commute because a car accident was the last thing he needed right now.

He sped off down the streets, following Kurt's directions. He was about a block away when he was tugged right back to the canoe with Desmond.

"Damn…" he groaned, clutching his head.

"We're here," he heard Desmond say as he climbed out of the canoe.

He reached out his hand and Jesse grabbed it to stand upright. Stumbling out of the canoe, he followed Desmond over into a facility nearby. He was so disoriented, he didn't even bother asking how there was a building in the middle of nowhere. He only hoped it would help him fix his problem and get back to Rachel as soon as possible.

Following Desmond down the hall inside, he wiped the sweat from his face with the back of his hand, not noticing the blood dripping from his nose.

"We need to hurry up," said Desmond, pointing to Jesse's nose. "We're running out of time…"

Jesse wiped it away, looking down at it in confusion. But he didn't have much time to think about this because Desmond had pulled him into a room with a ton of monitors on the walls. In the corner was a large bulky old phone that was attached to what looked like a few old car batteries, but he wasn't sure.

"Use this to contact Penny now and then, but the battery isn't strong and I have to save it. There really isn't much left, but I figure you need it more than I do," Desmond explained, pulling the phone receiver and looking at Jesse. "Okay, the number?"

"I…don't…" Jesse muttered, his head pounding.

"You don't remember?"

Before Jesse could speak, he was brought right back to the inside of his car in London. He had crashed into a lamp post at the corner of the street. Ignoring the sharp stabbing pain on his head, he kicked his wrecked door open and limped down the sidewalk to the hotel.

Some people tried to stop him, insisting that he wait to move until the ambulance arrived, but he was running out of time. He pushed passed them and into the hotel, heading straight for the front desk.

"I need to see Rachel Berry," he nearly shouted, wiping the blood from his forehead with his jacket sleeve. "It's urgent."

"I'm sorry, sir, but—"

"I NEED TO SEE HER NOW!" he shouted, losing patience.

"Sir—"

"LISTEN—"

"Jesse?"

Knowing her voice anywhere, he whipped himself around and found himself face to face with none other than Rachel Berry.

"Rach…" he sighed, reaching out to grab her shoulders for support.

"You're hurt…" she said fearfully, reaching up to touch his cheek.

"Car accident. Forget that. Rachel, I need your number," he said urgently.

Her look of fear quickly turned into a look of annoyance.

"You came all the way over here after getting into an accident for my number?" she asked in disbelief.

"Yes," he sighed.

"What's this all about, anyway? What makes you think I want to talk to you?" she said, placing her hands on her hips.

"Well why are you here anyway? You've come to see my show, right? Part of you must still want to see me," he replied, ignoring the looks of the people nearby.

One of the security guards walked up to him and reached out to grab his shoulder, but Rachel stopped him.

"It's okay. I'll handle it," she muttered to the guard, waving him away.

Turning back to Jesse, she crossed her arms in front of her chest and shook her head.

"Just because I wanted to see your show, doesn't mean I still want to have anything to do with you, Jesse," she replied.

"Rachel, please. I was stupid. I shouldn't have left you in the parking lot—"

"Yeah, and it wasn't the first time you did," she snapped bitterly.

"You were right," he said, his voice now growing frantic. "I took the show over here because I was scared. I was scared it wouldn't work out between us. I regret it so much because I really do love you. So just… please…. listen to what I have to say."

Rachel's angry gaze softened at these words. Her eyes filled with tears, but she didn't say anything. She simply nodded and grabbed his arm to lead him to one of the couches in the lobby.

"Tell me," she said softly.

"This is going to sound crazy, but in ten years I'm going to need to call you. That's why I need your number," he explained, hoping she wouldn't just dismiss his words.

"Jesse, what are you—"

"Rachel, I know you think I'm crazy right now. But you have to believe me. I need your number. Listen, if you still believe that we have a chance. If there is any part of you that believes in us, then you'll give me your number."

"Yeah, so you'll call me tonight? Tomorrow?" she asked, rolling her eyes.

"I promise I won't call you for ten years. December 18, 2023. Your birthday. I swear," he promised, grabbing her shoulders once more and looking into her eyes. "Please, Rachel. Please."

She could see the sincerity evident in his eyes. After all, it wasn't every day that Jesse St. James begged for anything. After what he had gone through, she couldn't refuse.

"212-824-5012," she said quietly.

"212-824-5012. 212-824-5012. 212-824-5012," he repeated, trying to memorize it.

"Jesse, I have to go. Please promise me you'll go to the hospital straight from here," she said, pushing herself up from the couch.

Ignoring this, he jumped up from his seat and followed her.

"Whatever you do, don't change the number. Promise me," he begged, his voice going frantic once more. "If you still believe that we have a chance, then you won't change the number."

"Jesse…just go. You have the number, so go," she replied, losing her patience.

"Rachel!" he called out, struggling against the security guard who had now grabbed him.

She turned to look at him sadly and shook her head before heading into the elevator.

"RACHEL!" he shouted, finding himself back in the room with Desmond.

"Do you have the number, Brotha?" he asked, holding the receiver in his hand.

"212-824-5012," he replied quickly.

Desmond dialed the number for him and handed Jesse the receiver as it rang.

And it rang.

And rang.

Just when he was about to lose hope, he finally heard her voice.

Her sweet beautiful voice.

"Hello?"

It took him a moment to even be able to respond. He was just so happy to hear her voice that he was absolutely rendered speechless.

"Rachel?" he asked, his voice shaking more than it ever had in his entire life.

"Jesse? It's you!" she replied tearfully, her voice just as shaky as his.

Jesse choked down his own tears as his lips pulled into the widest smile that he had ever managed to smile.

"You picked up. You really picked up," he managed to say, reaching up to wipe the slight trace of tears from his eyes. "You still believe in us…"

"Of course I do, Jesse," she replied, sniffling through her tears on the other end. "They said you were dead. They said your plane crashed. But you promised me. You promised me you'd call and I just couldn't—"

She couldn't manage any other words because she was overcome by a wave of tears.

"It's okay, Rach. I'm-I'm fine. I'm on an island, but I'm fine," he assured her, wiping away another tear that had managed to escape.

"Jesse… I'm sorry I didn't choose you after everything so long ago. If I had, then…I'm sorry-"

"No, Rachel. That's in the past," he cut in. "I just need to get back."

"I need to find you," they both said simultaneously.

"Rachel…" he gasped, unable to contain his tears by now. He didn't care if Desmond was looking. Now wasn't the time to keep his show face on. "You believed me. You didn't think I was crazy…"

"Yes, Jess. Yes, of course I believed you…" she said in the midst of her tears. "Oh, Jesse…"

"Rach…" he muttered, unable to pull words together.

"Jesse? Jesse are you still there?" she asked, worrying the call cut off.

"Yeah, I'm here," he assured her. "I'm here."

Jesse leaned his head against one of the monitors, cursing himself for taking so long to get the truth out. If only he had been honest with her from the beginning, they would probably not even be in this situation. If there was a time to be honest and pour out his soul, it was now.

"I love you, Rachel. I've always loved you. I-I lied in the parking lot just like I lied the first time. I'm sorry I said that you weren't more important than fame anymore. It's- it's not true. You're the most important thing to me. You're everything. You're my world," he confessed, feeling totally liberated now that he had.

"I love you, too, Jesse," she replied. "Always."

Hearing her say that lifted what felt like a thousand ton weight from Jesse's chest. She loved him. After all that happened, after all this time, she actually still loved him.

"I'm going to find a way to get back to you, Rach," he said, wiping his face again. "I promise."

"Jesse, I'll do everything I can to find you. I don't care what the cost is. I promise," she replied.

"I don't know how long it will take—"

"I'll wait for you. Just like I've waited all this time-"

"-but, Rachel?"

"Yes?"

"Happy Birthday," he said, a smile creeping up on his face as he did.

He could hear her as she was overcome by another wave of tears from his words.

"This is the best birthday present I could have ever asked for," she replied in a shaky voice.

"I have to go now…"

"No, Jesse. Don't!" she cried.

"It's only goodbye for now. We'll be together again soon. I promise."

"I love you," they both said at the same time before the battery died and the call cut off.

He hung up the phone and leaned his head against the monitors, taking a few moments to gather himself. Desmond walked over and patted his shoulder silently.

"It was just like that with me and Penny," he muttered, wiping his own eyes.

Jesse turned around and wiped his eyes on his arm as he straightened up. "Okay, what do we do now?"

"We get out of here."

It took time and a lot of work, but Jesse and Desmond were able to repair the boat that Desmond had been working on all this time. Jesse wasn't aware of this, but ever since Hurley had taken over as protector of the island, the rules had been changed. A specific bearing was no longer necessary to leave. It was now only necessary to find it. So when the boat was ready to sail, they did.

They were out at sea for what felt like an eternity and the food was starting to die down. Just when he was about to give up hope, they were found by a ship near the coast of Guam. Jesse didn't remember what happened in between being found and waking up in the hospital a few days later, but he didn't care. He was alive.

He woke up to the sound of Rachel's voice, softly humming "Hello" as she smoothed out the blanket covering him.

"Rach?" he muttered, his voice cracking. "You're here."

"Jesse…" she gasped, jumping up to shower his face with kisses. "Of course I came here… for you."

He cleared his throat and grabbed her hand, looking up at her to make sure she was really there. He noticed Desmond standing in the background about to leave with a woman whom he could only assume was Penny. Raising his hand, he waved and nodded at him thankfully.

"See you in another life, Brotha," said Desmond with a wave before leaving.

Jesse turned his attention back to Rachel and squeezed her hand gently.

"It's going to all be fine now, Jess. Soon we can go back home and everything-"

"Marry me," he said quickly and seriously as though he had been waiting all this time to finally get those words out.

"…What?"

"Marry me."

Rachel slowly brought her free hand to cover her mouth. She nodded silently, unable to formulate any words.

"Yes," she finally gasped. "Of course, I will."

He reached his free hand up to touch her face as he pulled her lips to his in the most perfect reunion kiss in the history of kisses. They weren't home yet. But at least they were together and their future was as bright as their names were in lights on Broadway. That was all they could ever ask for. It was at that moment that their romance finally truly became a reality.

They could say that this was the moment when their dreams came true.

But this wasn't a dream.

A dream is something that fills up the emptiness inside. The one thing that you know if it came true all the hurt would go away.

This wasn't a dream.

**It was an inevitability. **


	4. Epilogue

_**Epilogue**_

_The Past. The Present. The Future._

Rachel leaned over a few card board boxes in the empty living room of her brand new home with Jesse. They had just moved into a lavish apartment together in New York City, just like they had always wanted from the beginning.

She reached into one of the boxes and pulled out a photo album from her childhood. Smiling widely, she flipped through the pages from when she was a child, feeling the nostalgia flood over her.

"Jesse, we should take all of our old pictures and scrapbook them. What do you think?" she asked, looking back at her fiancé boxes over her shoulder.

He was busy looking through his own boxes of childhood memories as he nodded in agreement. "Let's do it."

"There's just so many to go through. Look at these. They're from my old dance classes when I was small. I was the best in my class," she said proudly, showing him a picture of her warming up in a bright pink tutu.

Jesse grabbed the book from her hand and smiled at the image of the younger Rachel. His smile faded when he saw the boy next to her.

"Oh my God," he muttered under his breath.

"What is it?" she asked curiously, poking her head over his shoulder to see.

He pulled his box that he was looking through previously over to him and pulled out a smaller box of photos from his childhood that his aunt and uncle had gathered from their summers together.

"Look at this," he said, pulling out a picture of him at the same dance studio warming up next to her.

"That's you?" she asked in total shock."Oh my God, that's so crazy! Jesse you were adorable!"

Smiling at the coincidence, he shook his head and set the photo down.

"Weird."

"I know," she replied, flipping the pages of her photo book.

She stopped when she landed on a candid picture taken from her window by her fathers. It was of her and a slightly older boy playing in her backyard.

"Jesse…" she called, her voice slightly shaky with fear.

He looked over at the picture she was pointing to and raised his eyebrow.

"That was you?" he asked, suddenly remembering that day vividly.

"You were my first kiss," she blushed.

"Me too…"

"Wow… it's almost as though…"

"This was meant to be…" he replied, pulling a picture from his box with shaky hands.

She looked over at the picture with wide eyes before darting back to her photo book and flipping the pages. When she found the picture she was looking for, she yanked it out and held it right next to the picture he was holding.

They both had pictures of themselves sitting on the edge of a crowded fountain in Disney World when they were kids. Sure enough, in both pictures, they were sitting hip to hip, both smiling at different cameras without even realizing it.

They were both overcome with goose bumps at the discovery. If there was any chance in the world that either of them would ever doubt that they were meant to be, those thoughts were gone now.

"It was always supposed to be this way," he muttered, looking over at her with a smile.

Rachel grabbed both pictures and put them into two separate empty frames that she had bought to spread their pictures around the house. Once they were set up, she placed them both side by side on the mantel and stepped back to admire the view.

"It will always be this way," she replied, leaning into his arms.

"Always."


End file.
